White oaks and shortleaf pines
throw shade at one another 
along the uphill slope.
You and I listen to a yellow-bellied sapsucker 
drumming its Morse code echoes
in the wind. Sticky silk collects around us. 
You usher an orb weaver to safety 
before we break through its home 
with sticks. A spring peeper jumps across our path
into the thicket of the Berea College Forest.
“A frog!” I shout in excitement.
You stumble to catch him gently
in your cupped hands, you bring him 
closer to my wonder-filled face. Released on damp moss, 
he sings his dawn chorus as
we side-step down the path 
back home.